Build your own Apollo Guidance Computer

I checked with Frank O'Brien, who I work with at our museum (InfoAge Science Center) here in New Jersey. Frank is a researcher for the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal and is co-editor of the Apollo Flight Journal. He replied: "In 2004, there were two people who *independently* reverse engineered the guidance computer source*, and then wrote working hardware emulators. This work was then used by the gent who built actual hardware to run the code. Now, there is a not-very-well-organized effort to create an Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) using Field-Programmable Grid Arrays (FPGA's). FPGA's allow you to create logic designs using high level design software, and the "burn" the logic into the chip. In a sense, this is the step after breadboarding, and before a chip gets mass produced. All the best, Frank *Some of the source was unreadable, so it was recreated by playing with memory checksums until the values worked out. Talk about dedication!" I hope that's helpful! - Evan -----Original Message----- From: Chuck Guzis [mailto:cclist at sydex.com] Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 2:40 AM To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: Build your own Apollo Guidance Computer On 18 Dec 2006 at 23:47, Richard wrote: Looks like a labor of love. But, given that the original uses RTL and core, what's the point of building one in LSTTL? Why not use an FPGA? It'd be no more or less authentic. Or perhaps just write a simulator to run on your PeeCee? What's remarkable about the original is the size (2 cu. ft.) and the modularity and serviceability. Cheers, Chuck